I wasn't going to say anything, but in light of the recent news that both Gene and Betsy bodies are apparently unclaimed at the morgue, I found it odd how Elizabeth said to bury the dogs remains with Betsy when she was contacted by the Sheriff Deputy, almost like she was expecting the Sheriff Dept to bury Betsy and she had no intentions of making arrangements for Betsy with funeral home herself.
But learning now that no arrangements have been made for Gene, tells me the family divide may run deeper than anyone thought. Also may sheds some light on why there may have been no communication with the children for months prior to their deaths.
On a side note: Gene's son made arrangements to hire an attorney.
JMO
While I don’t know the specifics of GH’s family situation, mentally I see some parallels with my late uncle’s one. (Can we play Miss Marple, even given different countries?) My uncle left his family and grownup daughters to marry a woman of exactly their age. His age and his new wife’s age difference was not the bracket comparable to GH and BA. When uncle divorced his first wife, he left absolutely everything, apartment, valuables, money - to that family. (This would probably be equal - not in value but in the idea - to Gene’s divorce settlement) However, this is where the train stopped for his daughters.
One difference from Gene: uncle’s and his new wife’s initial agreement was not to have kids, but nonetheless a child did appear. My uncle, within the remaining lifespan, managed to get pretty well-off riding the wave of changes. He died in his early 80es, mentally, in a fantastic shape. All the property accrued in the second marriage was left to the wife. His older daughters, to me, got a very short end of the stick. His rationale: the second wife dedicated her life to him. I suspect that he simply wanted to be taken care of as usual and avoid inconveniences. He saw that the daughters were struggling.
JMO: by analogy, it may be less about the “rift” and more about the feeling of happiness in Gene’s second marriage. My uncle maintained relationship with his daughters, but they were his “prior” life. In the “new” life he was happy.
So I see certain pattern hinting at a man’s view. GH’s first family supported him when he lived in a tiny apartment, through his struggles as a young actor, he even borrowed a car from his daughter. So there is that. On the other hand, the times of hardship one doesn’t remember fondly. That life was left behind and in his new one, GH wanted to be comfortable.
Absence of an offspring in Gene’s second marriage is irrelevant: for the man, it was about own happiness. I can only guess what kind of the charity Betsy left her money to.
(BTW, I feel that unclaimed bodies wouldn’t mean that much for Gene and there is a legal reason for it anyhow. IMHO, being remembered at the “Oscar” surely would have meant a lot for him.)
So I view GH’s situation as not a rift but the result of compartmentalizing own life. Gene and Betsy give an impression of introverted planners, happy in small “nests” they created in Santa Fe, and Florida, and now we read about an island in the PNW.
So GH and BA did what they wanted to, lived the way they wanted to; grew old together. With time, their world was shrinking but stayed stable.
I anssume that inheritance laws are complex with many provisions. In uncle’s country, even with the will, the daughters could have contested 1/6 of the property, but they decided not to. I assume that here there are ways to discuss it.
For example, can this statement of Gene made in 2004 in a rare interview
“I try to take care of myself. I don’t have a lot of fears.” — Gene Hackman
nypost.com
(*Hackman added, “’I want to make sure that my wife and my family are taken care of. Other than that, I don’t have a lot of fears.”*) be viewed as an expressed intent to provide for his children?
It is interesting how it ends. My condolences for Gene’s children and Betsy’s beloved ones.
